Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Stimulus versus Bailout,

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman yesterday efficiently articulated the important distinction between a "stimulus plan" and a "bailout":

[T]he fiscal stimulus plan — ... should, on its face, be very popular — and the bank bailouts, which are deeply (and understandably) unpopular. Spending on infrastructure commands broad support; rescuing bankers from the consequences of their own folly, broad revulsion.